Indy Dave

Call me Psycho. Anyone else call me Francis, and I'll kill you.

It seemed me that Murph and Alex did not have a good crowd mic in their space in the press box. Maybe that was it.

Mike, How would rate the crowd's enthusiasm from the beginning of the game? I listened on satellite radio during my 9-hour drive today, and it didn't sound like a typical opening day. Would you say the enthusiasm was below normal at the Ralph, considering it was opening day?

Are you kidding me? Us against the Colts? The Indianapolis Colts? The guys who were 10 points from the Super Bowl last year? The guys who lost on the road against the champs the other night by three points, and woulda coulda shoulda won the game? You're comparing us to that team? I WISH we had the problems the Colts had. Unfortunately, we have their problems, and 1,000 more. The post by BADOL says a lot. We have good players. Real good players. But those good players don't have "it." Whatever "it" is, Travis, Eric, Drew, Nate, etc. don't have "it." Tom Brady, as much as some people like to poke fun at him and deny his ability as an NFL quarterback, has "it." Several of his teammates have it. None of ours have it. That's why we are losers. That's why we'll be watching the Cowboys draft in our place next April at a high spot. Wouldn't matter anyway...our GM, who definitely does not have "it," would probably take a backup receiver from an intramural champion at Moron State University.

This is from ESPN.com and Scouts Inc. It's their preview of our game with the Jags. Overview There will be no shortage of talent in Buffalo's backfield, with the return of Travis Henry and Willis McGahee, who's healthy after missing his entire rookie season because of knee injury. The talented backs both feel they should be the starter, giving them that much more incentive to perform well given the opportunity. Bills QB Drew Bledsoe finished last year with his worst quarterback ranking since his rookie season and many felt that Buffalo would release him. He'll want to disprove his critics and show he's still one of the best in the league with a strong start to the 2004 season. Buffalo embarrassed the Jaguars in a 38-17 rout in then-first-year head coach Jack Del Rio's debut in Jacksonville. The Jaguars will want to return the favor in Bills' first-year head coach Mike Mularkey's debut in Buffalo. When the Jaguars have the ball Rushing: Buffalo did an excellent job of limiting RB Fred Taylor's production on the ground last year. And the Bills should have similar success this week, as there haven't been any changes in either team's fronts. DTs Sam Adams and Pat Williams excel at occupying blockers at the line of scrimmage, allowing the linebackers to flow to the ball without fighting through much traffic. OLBs Jeff Posey and Takeo Spikes both have the range to prevent Taylor from turning the corner when Jacksonville attacks the perimeter. MLB London Fletcher doesn't have prototypical bulk for the position and Taylor can be surprisingly effective between the tackles, but Fletcher is efficient as well as a sound tackler that will wrap up. Kyle Brady will miss this game because of a tendon injury in his middle finger. Brady, who almost plays like another offensive lineman, will be missed on short-yardage and goal line situations, especially considering the Bills' defensive line is most vulnerable at left defensive end. Rookie second-round-pick Greg Jones should get some short-yardage carries. While Jones hasn't shown great burst through the hole and lacks speed, he has the powerful style of running to pick up the tough yards after contact. If he struggles early, the Jaguars will just go back to Taylor or Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala if he's healthy. Fuamatu-Ma'afala might miss this game with a foot injury. Passing: Buffalo failed once again to find an explosive pass rusher to complement RDE Aaron Schobel, as it cut OLB Jason Gildon. With Schobel and the rest of the defensive line working against an offensive line that gave up a franchise-low 28 sacks last year, it will be the responsibility of the secondary to bail the pass rush out this week. The addition of DC Troy Vincent opposite DC Nate Clements, combined with the quick maturation of second-year nickel back Terrence McGee gives the Bills an excellent nickel package. They should match up well with Jacksonville's three-receiver sets. Jimmy Smith has clearly lost a step with age, Reggie Williams hasn't developed as quickly as hoped and Troy Edwards struggled during the preseason. As a result, the Bills could record some coverage sacks in this game. When the pass rush is able to get to QB Byron Leftwich, it will look to strip the ball from the second-year starter as much as possible. Leftwich lost nine fumbles last year and he does a poor job of covering the ball up at times. He isn't much of a threat to run, so he must make quicker decisions and be willing to throw the ball away when the pocket collapses around him. When the Bills have the ball Rushing: Buffalo signed ROG Chris Villarrial to replace the departed Ruben Brown. Villarrial is consistent, but he isn't dominant in any one area. This will be his first game in a Bills' uniform. With Villarrial adjusting and former undrafted free Lawrence Smith unexpectedly winning the starting job opposite Villarrial, there are plenty of questions along the interior offensive line. That's not good news for Buffalo fans, because Jacksonville may have the best starting defensive tackle tandem in the league. DTs John Henderson and Marcus Stroud will clog up the middle and make it difficult for Buffalo to run between-the-tackles, especially in short-yardage situations. The key to establishing Travis Henry and Willis McGahee on the outside will be getting a body on MLB Mike Peterson. Peterson flies to the ball and has the range to make plays from sideline-to-sideline. FB Daimon Shelton is a physical lead blocker, but Peterson has the quickness to beat him to the spot. It's critical that Shelton take good angles to his blocks this week. Del Rio stressed the importance of sound tackling throughout the preseason. If his back seven hasn't learned the significance of breaking down and wrapping up, it could give up some big plays. Henry and McGahee run with good power and both show good speed in the open field. Passing: The pieces are in place for Bledsoe to have a big game. Adding first-round pick Lee Evans to complement Josh Reed and a now healthy Eric Moulds gives Buffalo a formidable three-receiver set. Bledsoe has two backs who are capable of turning the short gain into the big play. With the running game setting up play action, he should be extremely productive working against a Jacksonville secondary that is without a true shutdown corner. Of course, Bledsoe's biggest weakness is his tendency to hold onto the ball too long, causing him to take some big hits. But that shouldn't be a problem this week. The release of Hugh Douglas and Tony Brackens combined with Jorge Cordova's season-ending knee injury leaves the Jaguars without a quality pass rusher along the defensive line. As a result, Jacksonville will often play OLB Akin Ayodele at end when it goes to its nickel and dime packages. Ayodele has recorded four sacks over the past two seasons. Buffalo's receivers must be aware of where SS Donovin Darius is on the field at all times. Darius plays with a mean streak and he times his hits extremely well. If one of the Bills' receivers doesn't see him when going over the middle, the result could be an incomplete pass or worse ? a fumble. Scout's Edge Jacksonville is a team on the rise and Buffalo is coming off a disappointing season. But look for the Bills to bounce back with a strong start in 2004 and give the Jaguars a dose of reality. Expect Jacksonville's strong run defense and Taylor to keep this game relatively close heading into the half. Bledsoe, however, will make enough big plays to force the Jaguars to play off the ball, creating running lanes for Henry and McGahee. Once Buffalo has established the lead, it can just steadily rotate both backs into the game and wear

Give me a break. If Drew played exactly like Peyton did tonight, and Travis played exactly like Edgerrin did tonight, the people on this board would be calling for Travis' head, not Drew's. Edgerrin did not protect the football in the red zone...TWICE. The second time was with less than three minutes left in the game, at the 1-yard line, in a three-point game. And this is Peyton's fault? No freakin' way. Both Brady and Manning had their share of mistakes tonight, including in crunch time. But I would rate them 1-2 on my list of QBs I'd like to have, that's for damn sure.

I'll say it was a good hoax. My dumb ass went and picked up Betts for my fantasy team as soon as I heard the "news."

Like I said in the original post, I can't provide a link because the story was gone. I'm not making any of this up, I promise you that. But the story was there, then it was gone seconds later.

You're right. I think Travis and Willis will have a tough time against their run D.

On the CBS fantasy sports page, there was a story about Portis suffering a "weight room injury." There was another story about Ladell Betts being the starter for Sunday. I saw this two minutes ago. Now the stories are gone. Nothing on CBS Sportsline or ESPN.com. Anyone else hear anything about this?

This is from Willis in AP story dated yesterday, about Travis being the starter... That's their decision...it ain't mine. That's all I can say about that. I'm not worried about it, my time will come. Only one person can start and unfortunately he's the one starting." Asked about being the third-down back: "What, third down? Nothing's good enough for now....I don't want to be no backup, but they're paying me a good salary." I would not call that totally "embracing the concept that Travis is the man," nor do I think he is concerned about helping the team if he's complaining about being a third-down back.

I understand. What I'm saying is, Willis made some cry-baby remarks in an AP story that came out either late yesterday or early today, and no one here brought it up-- as far as I could tell anyway. It was refreshing to hear Lee Evans say the things he did when put in a similar situation as McGahee. It is a bit different in that Evans and Reed will be on the same field at the same time far more often than Travis and Willis, but still I thought Lee was pretty classy. It was also good to read Josh's comments about Evans too.

Congrats on the anniversary! Me and the Mrs. recently celebrated our 10th anniversary. Have fun at the game and at all of the gatherings before and after.

I'm surprised I didn't read this earlier. You are exactly right, cale. I love how when Travis says anything like, "I should be the starter," the server crashes because so many people are quick to bash the MVP of our team. Willis says it, and it takes all day for it to be mentioned on the Wall, and no one replies to it. Hey, I hope Willis turns out to be a great player. If he's better than Travis, we got ourselves an awesome running back. But I can't figure out why so many people think his stevestojan doesn't stink, while a proven guy likes Travis gets more criticism than praise on this board. Can someone explain this? Lord help him if Travis were to (gulp) fumble on Sunday.

Don't take VaBills' word too seriously, taterhill. He'd trade Travis Henry for Magilla Gorilla and a squirt of piss.

I was at the game yesterday. During a Syracuse timeout (one of six called because the coaches were indecisive of what personnel they wanted out on the field, which is the norm lately at SU), Coach P was screaming at the players to run over to the sidelines for instruction. The players walked slowly, and Coach P yelled and signaled with his hands to hurry up and come to the sidelines again. The players continued to walk at a slow pace. That shows me that Coach P does not have the respect of the players. And that spells trouble.

Hi Bob. Here's to the safety for your family and all others in Florida.

Having good players, a good front office and a free-spending owner doesn't hurt Torre's winning percentage. But you can't argue that the guy is a heck of a manager. Phil Jackson has had similar type luxuries, but the guy is still a good coach. Typical Red Sox fan...can't bring themself to give any credit where credit is due when it comes to a Yankee.

I could not believe it either. Having said that, the people in this league know their football. People had different reasons for taking the people they took with the first five picks (Holmes, Manning, Portis, Alexander and Green).

I had a QB targeted and he was selected two picks before I was up. We have to play a TE, and I figured I could get someone later. I ended up waiting until late to take a QB. If all or most of the young RBs (Brown, Jones and Suggs) pan out, I definitely have some trade bait.

I admit I'm a little biased, but Travis Henry in the 9th round? That may be the biggest steal in fantasy history. Nice job. Here's mine. I picked sixth in a 10-team league. 1. LaDanian Tomlinson 2. Marvin Harrison 3. Stephen Davis 4. Derrick Mason 5. Koren Robinson 6. Andre Johnson 7. Chris Brown 8. Lee Suggs 9. Jeremy Shockey 10. Kevin Jones 11. Philadelphia D 12. Jake Plummer 13. Byron Leftwich 14. Josh Brown 15. Tyrone Calico 16. Nate Burleson I like my receivers and running backs. Quarterbacks have me worried.

I think Mularkey will come out throwing short, high-percentage passes and move the ball through the air. I know this goes against what the coaches have been saying and what we have been doing in the preseason, but that's my hunch. If we're successful, that should open up things for Travis and Willis.

What a loser attitude. "I don't care if we never win it all." Ha! That's a freakin' joke. Go to Fenway Park and make that statement, and see how many people pour their beer on you, spit on you, curse you, maybe even kick the crap out of you. As a Yankee fan, I don't consider last year "average." We won the AL East by six games, got through the first round, and beat our arch rival in one of the most memorable playoff series ever. Sure, we didn't win the ultimate prize, but that's far better than an average season. You think these last two seasons have been memorable for the Red Sox? Sure, they had a great season in 2003, and they are playing remarkable baseball as of late. But I can only hope (wishful thinking here) that the Red Sox players have the same loser mentality that you do. When you go 86 seasons without winning, and you have passionate and knowledgeable fans like Boston does, I'm sure the general attitude is, "The hell with the journey if we don't reach our final destination." If that's not the attitude, then the Red Sox are billsfanone again. Unfortunately for me, a Red Sox hater, I sincerely doubt that's the case. I don't doubt that you have had great joy following your team, even though they haven't won it all. In fact, I will always have wonderul memories of the 2001 season, even though the Yanks came so painfully close to winning it all, but did not. The Bills of the early 90s took me on a terrific ride as well. But to say you don't care if the Sox EVER win it all is about as lame a statement one can make. Oh yeah, and I'm sure other Red Sox fans will just allow last year's loss to the Yankees in the ALCS just become another memory, and not a bad nightmare. Just like they did in 1978. Heck, Bucky Dent and Aaron Boone may be future mayors of Boston because they're so beloved for providing Red Sox fans with such wonderful memories. Give me a break.

If we turn the ball over or go three and out on our first three possessions, and Jacksonville scores on each of its first three possessions and takes a 17-0 lead, then I might expect the boo birds to come out. But unless something drastic like that happens, there shouldn't be anyone booing a week from tomorrow.

I don't like RJ or Flutie because they both suck and had the wrong attitudes. One was a selfish ego-maniac, the other was a weak-minded sissy. However, I will say the decision to start RJ over Flutie in the Tennessee game was a GOOD move. By that point in the season, defenses had Flutie figured out. As good as Tennesse was on defense, we would have had NO CHANCE in winning on the Titans' home field with Flutie under center. As it was, RJ got the job done and we should have won that game. Let's not forget that. RJ helped us get in position to win that game. If it wasn't for that BS kickoff return, we probably go to the Super Bowl. It wasn't RJ's fault that the kickoff team didn't stay in their lanes, and it wasn't RJ's fault that the officiating crew consisted of a bunch of cowards afraid to reverse the call.